Roller dam structure



March 2, 1937.

P. E. HUNTER ET AL 2,072,714

ROLLER DAM STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 2. i936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 lNVENTO 5' P. E. HUNTER ET-AL 2,072,714

ROLLER DAM STRUCTURE March 2, 1937.

Filed Jan. 2,, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 2, 1937 ROLLER DAM STRUCTURE UNl-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application January 2, 1936, Serial No. 57,124

Claims.

Our invention relates to roller dam structures of the weir drum type, wherein the drum is provided with a flap which is raised and lowered to provide for a control of water level, in addi- 5 tion to the variation in such level which is effected through movements of the drum.

One object of our invention is to provide a structure of such form that the drum flap, during at least the lower stages of movement of lo the drum can be raised and lowered to a degree determined by the range of movements of the drum at said-lower stages.

Another object of our invention is to provide 7 means for efiecting relative movement between the drum and the drum flap at a predetermined point with respect to the lowermost position of the drum, and maintaining the predetermined position of the drum flap during continued movements of the drum.

Afurther object of our invention is to provide means so arranged and so proportioned that the drum flap will be maintained at approximately a given level during raising and lowering movements of the drum between such level and its lowermost position.

Another object of our invention is to provide means for changing the points at which the flap will be operated during raising and lowering of the drum.

Still another object of our invention is to provide an improved means for controlling the operation of the drum flap.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of a dam installation, partially in section, and taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View at one end thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side view of the structure of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the latch which is employed for holding the flap-operating lever in position to retain the flap closed, and Fig. 7 is a view taken on the line VIIVII of Fig. 4.

The drum 8 extends between two piers 9, (only one pier showing in Fig. 1), and each pier 9 is provided with an inclined wall ill at each end of the drum carrying a rack bar II, with which ring gears or gear teeth 12 at the ends of the drum mesh. A cable or chain I3 is suitably secured at one end to the drum, and at its other end to a reel H! which is driven by a motor I! to raise and lower the drum in a manner common with structures of this character. The drur is provided with an extension or dam plate I which, when the drum is in its lowered position, engages a sealing bar or beam ll that is mounted in the bed of the stream.

The drum is provided with an opening that is closed by a flap 19 which is hingedly connected at 20 to the drum. A link 2! has its ends connected to the flap l9, and to a crank arm 22 which is rigidly secured to a shaft 23 that extends through the end walls of the drum. A lever 24 is rigidly connected to an exposed end of the shaft 23, so that when the lever is operated, the flap will be raised and lowered.

A stop or abutment 25 is positioned in the path of the lever 24 so that when the winch I 4 is operated to lower the drum from its upper position to its lower position, the lever 24 will engage the stop 25 and cause gradual opening movement of the flap l9 relative to the drum as the drum approaches its lowermost position, to thereby maintain the water level. That is, when the drum is being lowered, the arm 24 engages the abutment 25 and maintains the drum flap I9 at a predetermined level with respect to the lowermost position of the drum. The drum through its continued lowering movement, in efiect, moves gradually away from the flap to its lowermost position. The highest point of the flap I9 is therefore maintained substantially stationary at the desired predetermined level, and this position of the flap determines the water level. The range of movements of the drum after the arm engages the ahutment 25 provides for the control of flow of water beneath the drum.

When the drum is started on its upward movement, a gradual closing movement between the flap and the drum is effected while the water level will be maintained at the plane of the highest point of the flap, notwithstanding initial movement of the drum from the sealing beam l'l. This feature is of importance where it is desired to allow some water to flow beneath the drum while maintaining a desired stream level. Furthermore, since there is little actual vertical movement of the raised edge of the flap, the presence of ice on said flap will not interfere with the raising of the drum to allow some water to flow beneath the same.

The axis of the lever 24 is so positioned and the lengths of the crank 22 and link 2| are so proportioned that the highest point of the drum flap I9 will move toward the drum at approximately the same rate or for the same distance that the drum is raised. For example, if the stop 25 is positioned so as to be engaged by the lever 24 at a point when the drum is two feet above its lowermost position, the flap will be raised approximately two feet relative to the drum when it is completely lowered. Thus, the movement between the flap and the drum is directly proportionate to the movement of the drum to its lowermost position after initial engagement of the lever 24 with the stop 25. Complete closure of the flap is eiiected when the drum is being raised and reaches the water level determined by the raised position of the flap, and when lowering the drum, opening movement of the flap is initiated and maintained at the predetermined level, as above-described.

In order to change the point at which the opening movement between the flap and the drum is efiected when the drum is being lowered, we provide an adjustable mounting for the stop 25. To this end, the stop is carried by a plate 2? which is supported for vertical sliding movement in a slideway 28 that is mounted on the cement work which forms the abutments. A cable 23 is connected to the upper end of the slide plate 21 and to a winch 3|] that is driven by a motor 31. It will be seen that with the stop adjusted to an upper position, opening movement between the flap l9 and the drum will begin at an earlier stage during the lowering movement of the drum 8 than when the stop 25 is moved to a lower position through lowering movement of the winch 30.

When the drum 8 has been raised sufliciently high to cause the flap I9 to be completely closed,

a latch 3| will move into locking engagement with the lever 24 and thereby retain the flap in closed 7 position while the drum is completely raisedas indicated in the upper portion of Fig. l.

The latch 3| has a shank portion extending through an end wall of thedrum 8, and through a plate 32 that is bolted to the inner side of said end wall. A spring 33 is interposed between the plate 32 and the head portion of the latch, to bias the latch outwardly. A suitable keyway is provided to prevent rotation of the latch in the drum head. The latch is provided with a bevelled shoulder 34 which will snap past the lever 23 during raising of the drum, and with another shoulder 35 that engages the lower edge of the lever. The lever will be held between the shoulders 34 and 35 during further upward movement of the drum.

When the drum is being lowered, the camming surface of the shoulder 35 will engage a camming surface 36 on the guideway 28, to thereby cause inward movement of the latch 3| against the compression of the spring 33, and moving the shoulder 34 out of overlying relationship to the lever 24, so that when the lever 24 engages the stop pin 25, as shown in Fig. 5, the drum and the latch 3| can continue their downward movements independently of the lever. The engagement of the lever 24 with the stop 25 at this time initiates opening movement of the flap l9.

To effect adjustments of the stop 25, we prefer to raise the drum to a point where the lever 23 is engaged by the latch 3| and moved out of engagement with the stop 25. Then the stop 25 may be readily adjusted to the desired vertical position and only hand power utilized, if desired, since the stop 25 is free of forces imposed through engagement with the lever 24.

We claim as our inventlon:-

1. The combination with a Weir drum and means for supporting it for upward and downward movement, of a flap pivotally mounted on the drum, for raising and lowering movements thereon, a crank device on the drum, having connection with the flap to operate the same during relative movements of the crank and the drum, and a stop element positioned to be engaged by the crank device while the drum is moving through a portion of its path of movement, to thereby prevent movement of the flap relative to said stop element, during travel of the drum through said portion of its path.

2. The combination with a weir drum and means supporting it for upward and downward movements, of a flap hinged at one edge to said drum along a line parallel to the axis of the drum, link mechanism within the drum having connection with the flap, a shaft element extending through said drum and connected to the link mechanism, a crank connected to said shaft, exteriorly of one end of the drum, and verticallyadjustable means mounted on the supporting means and provided with a stop member adapted to engage said crank during drum movements, to cause raising and lowering of the flap relative to the drum.

3. The combination with a pier and a weir drum mounted for raising and lowering movements relative to the pier, of a flap hingedly mounted on the drum, on an axis parallel to the axis of the drum, and with its free edge movable toward and from the periphery of the drum, a stationary support, a stop member vertically adjustable on the support, and means pivotally mounted on the drum and having engagement with the flap, the said means being positioned for engagement with the stop member during movement of the drum, and being thereby operated to move the flap relative to the drum, at a rate approximately equal to the speed at which i the drum is moved.

4. The combination with a pier and a weir drum mounted for raising and lowering movements relative 'to the pier, of a flap mounted on the drum and movable toward and from the periphery thereof, a normally stationary stop member mounted independently of the drum, and a flaplifting device movably mounted on the drum and having engagementwith the flap, the device being positioned for engagement with the stop member during movement of the drum, and being thereby operated to move the flap radially of the drum.

5. The combination with a weir drum and means supporting it for upward and downward movements, of a flap mounted on the drum for upward and downward movements thereon, a stop member, a flap-lifting device carried by the drum and operable when in engagement with the stop member to raise the flap through downward movement of the drum near the lower end of its path and to lower the flap during upward movement of the drum through said portion of its path, a latch on the drum, means operable during upward movement of the drum, for operating the latch to lock the flap-lifting device against movement of the drum when the drum reaches a predetermined height, and means for disengaging the latch during lowering movement of the drum.

PERCY E. HUNTER.

LOUIS E. ENDSLEY. 

